The Number of the Islamic Army

the hypocrites and people weak of heart had hung back from joining the true muslims in al-hudaibiyah campaigns, so now allâh, the all-mighty inculcated the following words in his prophet’s ears:

"those who lagged behind will say, when you set forth to take the spoils, ‘allow us to follow you.’ they want to change allâh’s words. say: ‘you shall not follow us; thus allâh has said beforehand.’ then they will say: ‘nay, you envy us.’ nay, but they understand not except a little." [al-qur'an 48:15]

for this reason, the prophet [pbuh] invited only those who were willing to fight in the cause of allâh to accompany him in his march against khaibar. 1400 men only, who had sworn allegiance in response to his call.

meanwhile, siba‘ bin ‘arfatah al-ghifari was chosen to run the affairs of madinah. another incident of high significance is noteworthy, namely the islamization of abu huraira, a venerable muslim scholar and an authentic narrator of the prophetic traditions.